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Investigative Baseball Journalism: Did I Just Solve a Mystery?

Ferris Bueller’s best friend Cameron Frye yelled these words at a Chicago Cubs game the day they took off from school in the 1986 comedy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

At the game, the two friends caught a foul ball and were even shown on TV. The Dean of Students, Edward Rooney, nearly caught them but didn’t because he got Pepsi spat in his face at an arcade…

Well, it’s a long story. But if you have seen the movie, you’ll know what I am talking about.

Yesterday it was reported by Larry Granillo of Wezen-ball.com that Bueller and Frye (and Sloane Peterson, too) attended a Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves game at Wrigley Field on June 5, 1985. He gathered that by using Baseball-reference.com and the commentary that is heard in the movie during the baseball scenes.

As it turns out, the Cubs lost 4-2 to the Braves that day.

One word: impressive. With a little baseball investigation, he found out the exact day Ferris Bueller took off. And as a huge fan of the Ferris Bueller movie, I thought it was fascinating.

It just so happened that hours after I read Granillo’s article about the Ferris Bueller Cubs game, I sat down and watched another one of my favorite comedies: “Wedding Crashers.” Like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,”” Wedding Crashers” also features a scene that involves a character watching a baseball game.

Towards the end of the movie, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson’s character) was depressed; sitting on his couch he watched a Baltimore Orioles game, as the movie takes place in Washington, D.C. (which to my understanding) is located some 40 miles away from Baltimore.

I decided I wanted to make it my mission to find out what Orioles game Owen Wilson was watching. Much like how Granillo found out what game Ferris Bueller went to, I want to find out what game one of the wedding crashers was watching.

Here is what I have gathered:

·“Wedding Crashers” came out on July 15, 2005, which probably means shooting began in 2004, thus the game he was watching probably took place in ’04.

·In the film, a player is seen coming home in a home run trot. The announcer identifies the player as Jay Gibbons, who played for the Orioles from 2001 until 2007. He had some time in the show this past season, playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010.

·The team the Orioles were playing had dark jerseys on. It’s extremely difficult to tell which team it was, even by zooming in as close as I can on the DVD player. The White Sox perhaps? That was my guess. No help there.

·“It is gone! He is rejuvenated! And the Orioles take the lead, 3-2.” This helps.

·“Well, Jay Gibbons connects; his first home run of the season off a left-handed pitcher.” Getting a little closer, I hope.

·The footage in the movie was a night game from Camden Yards.

·According to Gibbons’s baseball reference page, he hit 10 home runs in 2004–and strangely enough one of them did come against the White Sox.

I think I may have done it!!!

It took me a little while but here goes…

On May 5, 2004, the Orioles played the White Sox at home. Gibbons had a solo home run in that game off Mark Buehrle (a left-handed pitcher) in the fourth inning, according to the baseball almanac. Before the home run, the game was tied 2-2. Gibbons’s home run made the game 3-2.

According to the recaps posted on the internet, the game was a 7:05 night game.

That home run was Gibbons’s fourth of 2004. From what I discovered in my research, his other three home runs to that point came off right-handed pitchers, meaning it was his first of the season off a lefty.

Could I have just cracked a code? I guess I will never know for sure if it was the exact game, but the pieces are there; the evidence is in place.

Just as Bueller and his friends saw a losing effort on the Cubs’ part, Beckwith (Wilson) did in “Wedding Crashers,” if I have the correct game. The White Sox battled back on May 5, 2004 to beat the O’s 6-5.

I think Sherlock Holmes is hunting you down as a new Inspector with him.
Tremendous deduction skills, plus the story about “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was a great factoid piece for reference help, plus a good motivator.
Funny how easy it is today to find information like that thanks to the little box we are all peacking on right now.
Think for a moment how much harder if would have been say 1990-ish and you try and figure this mystery out.
Technology is our friend after all.
Great post!

Loved this entry. Baseball-reference site is an amazing resource. Now that Confessions of a She Fan has migrated, I’m proud to join you as the most visited Yankee-related blogs on this site. Happy Valentines Day to all Yankee Yappers and Happy Birthday to Mel Allen and The Yankee Clippard.

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